Favorite Things 2014

I am a little late getting my favorite things post for this year up.  I like to post about a few things in my house that I love each year during the week of Thanksgiving, but this year we went to Utah to spend Thanksgiving with my family for the first time in ten years, so I didn't get around to it.  When I got back I put it off, thinking that maybe I would just skip this year, since we are living in our little rental property and I am having a hard time thinking of very many things that make me happy in this house.  Upon further reflection, I thought of a few things that I definitely love and am so happy that they are part of my life this year, so I decided to put up a favorite things post after all.

First up, Burt's Bees tinted lip balm.  I have several tubes of this.  I keep one in my purse, one in my church bag, and one with my make-up.  It is a little pricier than regular lip balm, but I love that the ingredients are all natural and I feel like it does a much better job of moisturizing my dry lips.  I also love the tint.  It has just enough to add some subtle color, but it still looks natural.  My favorite color is the red dahlia, but they have several different shades to choose from.  I would not be without this stuff.

Second, my Speed Queen washer.  A few years ago my trusty old Maytag died and I replaced it with one of those fancy front loaders that everyone has.  It looked great and for the first few months I was fairly happy with it, but it didn't take long for me to notice that our clothes just didn't look or smell as clean.  I was also completely irritated that it took an hour or more to wash one load of clothes.  I do laundry for seven people.  I do not have an hour per load, and I need them to be clean after the first wash.  So I started to look for top loaders again. During my search, I found that almost all top loaders have gone high efficiency too. - meaning that you cannot wash with truly hot water, and that you only use about a gallon per load.  I'm sorry, but I wash for six boys.  Hot water and plenty of it are a must.  Finally I ran onto the Speed Queen - (cue angels singing).  The reviews on it were terrific.  It turns out that I was not the only person that is unhappy with their spiffy looking high efficiency washer.  There are lots of people out there who want to use hot water and to actually have their clothes come out of the washer clean and thoroughly rinsed in twenty minutes.

It took me forever to actually pull the trigger and buy this washer.  It was expensive and my other washer still worked - kind of. ;) Last summer I finally decided that enough was enough and broke down and bought the washer.  When the washer was delivered the delivery man said to me "You have a front-loader don't you?"  I told him yes and then he said "You would not believe how many of these washers I have delivered to people that hate their front-loaders."

I have not regretted this purchase for even one millisecond.  My clothes are clean and fresh-smelling and I can actually get through a lot of laundry in just a few hours now.

Well that turned into quite an epistle, but I wanted you to know why this truly is one of my most favorite things in my house (and life) right now.

Third, our house plans for our new house.  Every once in awhile I just have to get them out and look at them and remind myself that living in this little place will be worth it in the end. They give me hope that by this time next year we will be living in a place that is three times the size of where we are living now.

We are still in the planning/bidding/financing stages for this house, but hope to break ground in the next month or so.  I plan to document the progress of the build on the blog - so stay tuned for that.  I am so excited!!!

(sorry about the blurry picture)

Finally, my favorite things in the world are the six people in this picture with me.  They keep me busy, but they also make life worthwhile.  I love you guys!!!